Kinsler -- in his second game as a Tiger -- homered in the fourth and singled home the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning Wednesday afternoon as Detroit claimed a 2-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. It was the Tigers' second walk-off win in as many games this season.

Austin Jackson walked to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning, then went to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Alex Avila. Nick Castellanos drew a walk to put two on with one out. After Alex Gonzalez popped out for the second out of the inning, Kinsler laced a ball to the gap in left-center to score Jackson.

Kinsler hit a solo home run for the Tigers in the fourth inning. Scherzer made sure that 1-0 lead stood up, but Tigers closer Joe Nathan allowed a hit, walked two, committed a balk and allowed a run in the top of the ninth inning.

Scherzer had trouble finding the strike zone in the first inning, but from that point forward he didn't miss a beat. Scherzer allowed singles in the first, fourth and fifth innings and a double in the eighth, but he pitched to just three batters more than the minimum over eight innings thanks to a pair of double plays.

The Royals had a runner on second base with two outs in the eighth inning when Tigers manager Brad Ausmus visited the mound to talk to Scherzer, who was at 107 pitches. After a lengthy discussion, Ausmus left Scherzer in the game. The defending American League Cy Young Award winner then retired Alcides Escobar for the final out of the inning and finished with 110 pitches.

Tigers' highlights

-- Ian Kinsler had a 2-1 count on him with two outs in the third inning when Alex Avila was thrown out trying to steal second base. Kinsler stepped back up to the plate to lead off the fourth and hit the first pitch from Royals starter Jason Vargas over the wall in left field for a solo home run. It was his first hit as a Tigers player.

-- After striking out no one the first time through the order, Scherzer struck out five batters his second time through.

-- The Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth inning when Tyler Collins hit into what was initially ruled a double play. But Ausmus challenged the call, and after a video review it was ruled that Collins had beaten the throw and was safe at first base. That left the Tigers with runners at the corners and one out. It was the first challenge issued by the Tigers. The ruling came after a delay of three minutes.

-- Another video review, this one in the top of the 10th, benefited the Tigers. It was initially ruled that Norchika Aoki had beaten the throw to first base on a dribbler in front of the plate. That would have left the Royals with runners at first and third with two outs. But after video review, Aoki was ruled out at first, which ended the inning.

-- The final pitching line for Scherzer: 8IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 7SO. He threw 110 pitches, 72 for strikes. Scherzer had never thrown more than 96 pitches in his first start of the season. The earliest in a season he had ever thrown 110 or more pitches came in 2011, when he passed that mark on April 13 in his third start.

Tigers' lowlights

-- The first two Royals batters reached base against Scherzer, the first on a walk and the second on a single. But Scherzer got Eric Hosmer to fly out to center field, then induced an inning-ending double play off the bat of Billy Butler on a 3-0 pitch. Scherzer struggled with his command throughout the first. He threw 17 pitches, just seven for strikes.

-- The Tigers struggled to string hits together against Vargas, who struck out the side in order in the fifth inning. He got Austin Jackson looking at a called third strike, then got Alex Avila and Nick Castellanos swinging.

-- The Royals loaded the bases with one out in the ninth inning off
Nathan on a line-drive single to center and back-to-back walks, then tied the game at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly to left field off the bat of Alex Gordon. After both runners moved up on a balk, Nathan retired Brett Hayes on a sharp groundout to second base to keep the score tied.

Game notes

-- Collins, who started in left field and batted second, popped up to third base in the first inning in his first major league at-bat. Collins made a nice catch in the top of the second inning when he laid out to catch a fly to shallow center by Alex Gordon.

-- Some Tigers fans wondered aloud in the days leading up to the game what type of response Scherzer would get in his first start of the season after he reportedly turned down a six-year contract offer worth $144 million. But the fans at Comerica Park treated him with the same rousing cheers they did Monday during player introductions.